My heart goes out to everyone without air conditioning this summer. Being hot is right up there on my list of “most unpleasant sensations” between having a cavity drilled and discovering my husband finished off the Nutella without telling me. The only redeeming quality to hot summers is the abundance of fresh fruit—especially melons.

I love eating my melon as-is, dripping down my chin, as I stand right next to an ice-cold air vent, but one day I decided to dress it up with a ginger-mint citrus dressing. Very smart move. I loved it so much I wanted to share it with all of you!

For the dressing you’ll need some fresh ginger (I like it very ginger-y, but feel free to hold back if you wish), fresh mint, honey, half of an orange, a lime, and a little salt.

First, juice the lime and the orange half into a small-ish sized bowl.

Add the fresh, grated ginger. If you don’t have a Microplane grater, go out and get one. Seriously.

Add the honey. (And salt.)

Chop the mint …

And add it to the rest of the dressing. Whisk it up well, so the honey is fully incorporated.

Gather the melons, whichever you decide to use. For this recipe I used a quarter of a seedless watermelon, half of a honeydew melon, and a whole small cantaloupe. Fresh pineapple chunks or grapes would also work well. I’d avoid using fruit that break down easily in acid, like berries, bananas, and stone fruit.

Start peeling and chopping …

And peeling and chopping, and peeling and chopping …

Then grab the biggest serving bowl you have. Not the dinnertime salad bowl, but the ginormous “I’m the only one bringing a salad to feed 25″ potluck bowl. You know which one I’m talking about.

Pour that lovely dressing over the melon. Things should be smelling ridiculously good by now.

Give it a stir to coat all of the melon. If you do this more than an hour or so in advance, you’ll end up with a lot of liquid in the bowl. I didn’t mind, but a few of you might.

Speaking of that liquid, when you finish up the melon, do NOT throw away that juice. Pour it into a glass and keep it in the fridge. It’s fantastic. We had to carefully ration it out among the four of us to ensure we all got our fair share with minimal complaints and accusations. It’s also great in smoothies or diluted to make some refreshing flavored water.

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Description

Chunks of melon tossed in a lovely dressing of ginger, mint, and citrus. Who says melon can’t fancy sometimes?

Ingredients

¼ wholeWatermelon, Cubed

1 wholeCantaloupe, Cubed

½ wholeHoneydew Melon, Cubed

FOR THE DRESSING:

⅓ cupsOrange Juice (about 1/2 An Orange)

¼ cupsLime Juice (about 1 Lime)

2 TablespoonsChopped Fresh Mint

2 teaspoonsGrated Fresh Ginger

1 teaspoonHoney

⅛ teaspoonsSalt

Preparation Instructions

Place melon in a really large bowl—the one you take to potlucks. Whisk dressing ingredients together and pour over melon. Mix well and taste. If the dressing is too strong, add more melon.

Notes:
1. You might not want to do this too far ahead as the dressing extracts a lot of moisture from the melon. You’ll have a lot of liquid at the bottom of the bowl in a few hours, but pour it into a glass and save it. It’s delicious added to a smoothie or enjoyed as is!
2. Feel free to mix and match any melon (or other fruit) for the salad. Grapes or fresh pineapple chunks would be good additions! I wouldn’t add anything that breaks down quickly, like berries.

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Be sure to check out Natalie’s own beautiful food blog, Perrys’ Plate, where you can see her growing collection of lovely recipes. There’s always something new to see there. Go visit now!

Without wishing to seem unoriginal, I’d like to join in the chorus of praise for this article – it does look absolutely beautiful. Though the recall on melons in FL and the Carolinas is alarming – had no idea listeria could be carried that way. Where did you get that info from, Melanie?

4Pon 8.20.2012

This looks lovely…just want to recommend people do some melon research or buy organic this summer, because there’s a pretty massive recall occurring on cantaloupes and honeydews throughout the US (listeria, I believe). It might be localized to the SE, not sure…I know it’s present in FL and the Carolinas. Just an FYI.